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Enlightening news on dark matter

Scientists close in on dark matter. Believe evidence of its existance may be …

While astronomers are confirming the influence of dark matter in the universe, a group from the University of Oxford believe they are closing in on the actual nature of dark matter itself. In data recently released to the public, the group has mapped the pattern of 511 keV gamma rays emanating from the center of the Milky Way. The energy of the gamma rays matches what would be expected in the annihilation of electrons and positrons at their "rest energy." The researchers believe the electrons and positrons are produced by the annihilation of dark matter and corresponding anti-dark matter. To produce these electrons and positrons near their rest energy, the dark matter must be relatively "light"...about 10 to 1000 times lighter than a proton.

Turning to the ESA's gamma ray telescope, the distribution of 511 keV gamma rays in the central Milky Way fits exactly what they would expect for light dark matter particles. But if dark matter is so light, then why haven't we seen evidence of it in particle acceleration experiments?

"To have escaped detection, it must be very weakly interacting," says Hooper. "A particle in [this] range could have been missed," agrees Nigel Smith, head of the UK Dark Matter Collaboration Experiment

Sometimes particles may escape detection because they weren't looking for them specifically. Previously conducted experiments may contain evidence of such dark matter, and the researchers are now sifting through that data. They also believe such dark matter should be common in the space surrounding Earth, and could be detected in lab based experiments. Now the researchers know where to look, they can design experiments to help find direct evidence of the dark matter. I just hope they are shining the light in the right direction.